1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a vehicle article carrier, and more particularly to a vehicle article carrier having a pair of bracket member which each incorporate a rotatable actuating member and an internally disposed camming member for causing the bracket members to be locked and unlocked relative to a pair of slats disposed on an outer body surface of the vehicle through operation of a rotational actuating member.
2. Discussion
Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications to secure articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle. Such vehicle article carriers often incorporate a pair of bracket members secured to opposite ends of a cross bar. The bracket members are typically mounted on a pair of slats. In some instances, the bracket members may be releasably engageable with the slats to permit the cross bar and the pair of bracket members to be repositioned along the slats as may be needed.
While many forms of locking arrangements have been developed for use with the bracket members of a vehicle article carrier, such locking arrangements have often incorporated a relatively large number of component parts. Furthermore, previously developed locking arrangements have also often proven expensive to manufacture and/or complicated to assemble. In addition, some previously developed locking arrangements have proven to be susceptible to ice and various other elements which can interfere with the operation of such locking mechanisms.
An additional drawback of many previously developed article carrier systems if the lack of any means for limiting the torque applied by the user through an actuating member of the vehicle article carrier. Typically, the actuating member is associated with a support such as a stanchion or bracket member which is disposed on one of a pair of slats of the vehicle article carrier. The actuating member is typically used to allow the user to lock the bracket member at a desired position along the slat, and therefore enables a cross bar to be adjustably positioned along the slats as needed. The actuating member can take many forms but in one form comprises a rotatable member which the user rotates to urge the bracket member into a locked position. Unlocking the bracket member involves rotating the member in the opposite rotational direction. In some instances, however, it may be possible for the user to inadvertently overtighten the actuating member thereby making it difficult to loosen later on or possibly causing damage or unnecessary stress to other internal components of the bracket member.
Accordingly, it would be highly preferable to incorporate some form of torque limiting mechanism for use with a dial-like actuating member to limit the rotational force that a user is able to apply to the actuating member to adjust that which is necessary to securely lock the bracket member to its associated slat.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for a bracket member of a vehicle article carrier which is easy for an operator to place in locked and unlocked positions relative to the slats which support the bracket members. Furthermore, there is a need for a vehicle article carrier which is comprised of a limited number of component parts, and which is further easy to assemble and which allows a user to quickly and easily loosen the bracket members relative to their respective slats to permit a cross bar to be quickly and easily repositioned as needed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for a bracket member of a vehicle article carrier which provides a torque limiting function to prevent an actuating member of the vehicle article carrier from accidentally being overtightened by a user.